


Spontaneous Aid

by queermoraghid (TheDoctorIsIcecube)



Series: Torna: The Golden Flufftry [5]
Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-07-01 11:13:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15772968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorIsIcecube/pseuds/queermoraghid
Summary: How Malos met Mikhail.-And then his thoughts were very effectively interrupted by him tripping over something sitting hunched on the street and falling flat on his face. The something in question let out a cry of surprise, and Malos felt the light drain and flicker from the air in the way that only a blade could pull off. He scrambled to get back to his feet, just in time to see the mystery blade take off running deeper into the alleyways.





	Spontaneous Aid

Malos made sure to keep his back turned and hunched as the numerous Indoline soldiers patrolled back and forth down the streets. He should be safe, here in this alleyway, but he didn’t know why they were here; they could be searching for him, and even if they weren’t, there was a fairly high chance that he could be recognised on sight. He couldn’t take that risk when he was still so weak.

Coming here had been a bad idea, but how was he to know that barely five minutes after his arrival, the entire Indoline guard would be put on high alert for some reason. So now he was forced to slink through the shadows, desperately trying to find his way back to the nearest port without being dragged to see the Praetor by some overexcited bratty soldier. Trying to find his informant was a loss when there were so many people around.

But the soldiers were everywhere. What were they looking for, or who? Had someone tipped the Praetor off about where he was going? Had he been recognised at the port? Perhaps Amalthus could still feel that damned ether link running between them, despite his best efforts to cut it off for good.

And then his thoughts were very effectively interrupted by him tripping over something sitting hunched on the street and falling flat on his face. The something in question let out a cry of surprise, and Malos felt the light drain and flicker from the air in the way that only a blade could pull off. He scrambled to get back to his feet, just in time to see the mystery blade take off running deeper into the alleyways.

Instantly, Malos pursued. There’d been something distinctly off about that blade that he hadn’t quite had time to register before it took off. And also, he’d tripped and fallen on his face. He had to get some kind of revenge for that, for sure. 

Whoever the blade was, they were only a kid with little legs, and it didn’t take Malos long to strip away their head start. Barely a minute later, he reached out and grabbed the collar of the kid’s shirt, yanking them back to face him. He was met with the face of a scared- no, a terrified boy, who was now desperately trying to cover up his entire chest with his arms.

The first thing Malos noticed was that, despite his attempts to cover it, the boy was definitely a blade. But the core crystal was...wrong. It looked to be almost seared into his chest, the skin burned at the edges of it, and there was dried blood around it too. That was not what a core was meant to look like. Perhaps someone had tried to cut it out?

The second thing Malos noticed was that the entire street had gone almost pitch black. This blade was powerful, but he had absolutely no idea how to control his powers. To anyone who wasn’t a dark blade, stepping into this alleyway would be like suddenly going blind. 

“What the fuck happened to you?” Maybe swearing around the kid wasn’t the best idea, but Malos wanted answers. “Where’s your driver, kid?” In response, the child only struggled harder, not saying a word. “Stop struggling, the noise and this commotion you’ve made in this alley will just bring the soldiers right to us.”

That got the kid to stop moving. Bingo. “They’re looking for you?” He asked. “What did you do to bring all of them down on you?” What was so valuable about this blade’s core crystal that the Praetorium had half their army down on the streets searching?

The kid hesitated, looking around as if he expected the army to suddenly burst around the corner. “...Ran away,” he said shortly. “This, it’s- it’s not mine.” He motioned to his core crystal, looking disgusted. Soon enough, though, that expression crumpled into one of fear and pleading. “Don’t give me to the soldiers, please, they’re gonna kill me…”

Tornan, then, given the accent. Of course the Praetorium weren’t done with running the people of that place to the ground just to look for Addam. Malos would do the same, of course, but he very much doubted that a little kid had done anything or had any connections to the other Aegis. “Well that’s a damn shame,” he said.

“Let me go.” The kid had gone right back to looking sulky and wriggling. Malos rolled his eyes, and tightened his grip on the back of the kid’s shirt. 

“No. If I let you go, those soldiers out there are going to catch you and do whatever the fuck they were planning to do with you, because you’re a stupid kid. We’re going to lie low in this alleyway until they all fuck off, and then we’re going to get off Indol. In the meantime, you’re going to tell me why the entirety of Indol wants you dead.”

“No,” he said. “Don’t wanna talk about it.” It was then that Malos noticed that the blade’s face was looking very pale, and his eyes were wandering. He was no expert, but he looked...ill. “I don’t h-have to talk about anything I don’t want to.”

“You don’t have to, but since I’m saving your life, you might want to think about being a bit more generous with information.” Blades couldn’t get ill, really. And this kid felt suspiciously human in Malos’ grip, despite the very obvious core crystal. Something was definitely up here, and Malos was going to find out what it was.

“Probably just gonna die anyway,” the boy said, wriggling again in Malos’ grip. He seemed decidedly weaker now. “That’s what happened to everyone else.”

“Everyone else?” Curious, Malos crouched down, pushing the kid down as well. He didn’t seem to object, sitting on the floor with his back against the wall in a way that very much suggested he might be about to pass out. Malos rested a hand on the kid’s chest, and frowned. The energy from his core crystal wasn’t flowing through his body as it ought to- it was trying to, and it was being rejected. With the way ether was building up in there, the kid’s entire chest might well just explode unless the ether was drained.

“The monks,” the boy said, his breathing now noticeably laboured. He was crashing fast and Malos was honestly slightly concerned that he could be well on the way to death. “They get sick and the monks take them away and they don’t come back.”

If the Indoline monks were involved, this was something serious. Malos placed a hand over the boy’s core crystal again, forcing himself to focus on draining the excess ether out of it. “Keep talking to me, kid.” This was probably going to hurt, the kid would need a distraction. “What’s your name? How did you get to Indol?” 

“M-Mikhail,” he managed, and Malos could hear the pain in his voice. Father, this kid had some guts. His eyes were slightly distant, but he was still conscious. For now. “I’m a refugee. From Torna.”

“Uh-huh.” Talking whilst also dealing with the truly supermassive amounts of ether that had been stuck in this kid’s chest was not an easy task. Every blade on Indol was going to find themselves a little bit more perky once all of this ether was released. “So, how’d a refugee end up with a core crystal shoved in his chest, hm?”

Mikhail’s expression twisted, and it was clear he was in agony. Somewhere, somehow, Malos felt a touch of sympathy. Things like this was exactly why the world was too cruel for humans to exist in it. “It- it just happened,” he choked out.

“I see.” Malos closed his eyes, digging deep into Mikhail’s core crystal to drain out as much ether as he possibly could. When he was done, he opened his eyes again, and Mikhail was pale and shaking, looking very much like he was about to pass out. “Hey, kid, I’m done. You should be okay for a few days now.” 

“Wh-what did you do?” His voice was weak and trembling almost as much as he was. The darkness of the alley lessened a little. The moment Malos removed his hand, he felt the crystal resuming its ether intake. If the kid’s body didn’t start accepting the ether, Malos didn’t know what would happen.

“Got rid of the ether in that core crystal so it’s not slowly killing you.” Might as well be blunt about it. The kid wasn’t going to learn if Malos baby-talked at him. “Okay, kid. How much do you know about blades? Do you know what core crystals do?” 

“Of course I do!” He objected weakly. Malos could see him slipping slightly in his position propped up against the wall. If he stepped back from the kid, he doubted that he’d move at all. “But it- it shouldn’t be there.”

“Yeah. Core crystals are supposed to transfer ether from the air to the blade whose body they’re in. So, yours is trying to do that, but it’s, uh...getting stuck, I guess.” Malos leaned down, pulling open Mikhail’s shirt to get a better look at what had been done to him. The wound was very precise and surgical, clearly done by skilled doctors, but Mikhail’s body quite obviously did not appreciate the foreign object lodged into it. “Okay, kid, I’m gonna be honest with you. Try not to cry everywhere. Either your body is going to accept the core crystal and you’ll adjust to it somehow, or it’ll reject the core crystal, and probably kill you in the process.”

“It hurts,” he mumbled, staring down at where Malos had left the crystal on show. With fumbling hands, he tried to pull the cloth back to cover it again. Father, this kid must be so confused about what was going on. Even with his possibilities spelt out for him, that was still two very different things that could happen to him.

“Yeah, I know.” Malos sighed, glancing back out of the alleyway. He could still hear soldiers marching past every thirty seconds or so. They were going to be stuck here for a while. He dug in his pockets, pulling out some bread left over from his meal this morning. “You hungry, kid?” 

Mikhail shook his head, looking absolutely drained. Malos would not be surprised if the kid fell asleep right there in this alleyway. The real uncertainty was if he’d wake up again. “Try and eat something,” he insisted. He didn’t know why, exactly, but he wanted this runt to live through this.

“Fine…” Mikhail reached out and took the bread, gazing at it blankly for a moment before taking a bite. Malos had never seen someone look quite so unenthusiastic about their food. Poor kid. Whatever had happened to him, Malos somehow felt responsible for him now. 

“How long ago did they put that crystal in you?” He asked. If he could work out how long Mikhail had been living with it, he might have a better shot at working out if the poor kid was going to survive if he fell asleep or not.

“‘Bout a week ago,” Mikhail mumbled through a mouthful of bread. “I think.” A week was an awful long time to be living with no stable way of draining one’s ether. If Malos had come here a day later, he probably would have found Mikhail dead.

“Good,” Malos said. If it had taken him that long to get to breaking point and he was still alive now, the likelihood was that he’d make it for at least a short while. The issue was if his body would ever accept it, seeing as he’d gone a week with it rejecting the foreign object. Malos wasn’t keen on sticking around to help this kid for longer, but leaving him at the mercy of Indol went against the grain for him.

“Who are you?” Malos should have known that question was coming. It wasn’t every day you encountered a lone blade wandering the streets, after all, and Mikhail seemed like a pretty curious kid. But how did he answer that question? 

“It’s complicated,” he said. It was also probably better that he didn’t tell the kid his name. The name Malos had been everywhere until a short while ago. He’d probably recognise it, especially if he was from Torna, and more stress would not be good for his exhausted body. “A wanderer, looking for something here.”

“Where’s your driver?” Another awkward question. Malos didn't answer that one, he just shrugged and turned away. The patrols of soldiers seemed to be getting less frequent- perhaps they could make a run for it soon. “Oh, are you a flesh eater?”

“Shh!” He hissed sharply, turning to face Mikhail again. “I’m not. But don’t say things like that here, you’ll bring the whole titan down on us.”

“But Minoth was from-”

“Shh!” He interrupted the boy before he could finish. Never mind questioning how he knew who Minoth was, he just needed to get the boy to stop talking about this.

“Has anyone ever told you you’re really rude?” For a kid who was half-starved and clearly very weak, he had quite the snarky mouth on him. Malos was tempted to point out that he had in fact just saved Mikhail’s life, but at the same time, the last thing they needed right now was to start an argument. 

“Yup,” he said. “Just keep quiet for a bit and don’t drop off or anything.” The kid’s eyelids kept drooping and Malos didn’t want to have to carry him. Walking a child through the streets would look suspicious enough, after all. “We can get somewhere safe soon.”

“Where?” Mikhail was clearly trying to stifle a yawn there, which was concerning. Malos sighed, glancing out at the street again. Just a few more minutes and the guards would give up, hopefully. For now, they were still everywhere.

“The inn,” he said. “I slept on the boat here, but I need a base of operations while I’m here.” It was a bit too official and on the books for Malos, but all kinds of people came in and out of inns. It was easy to send and receive messages without getting noticed.”

“An inn on Indol?” Mikhail pulled a face. “They’ll find me straight away, you can’t trust anyone here…” The kid had a point, Malos supposed, but he didn't see that they had many other options. 

“Where else do you propose going?” He asked. “The refugee camp, where half the people there already know you? Or the Sanctum with the soldiers?” The kid’s face fell immediately. Their only other option was just leaving the titan, and Malos wasn’t here to rescue a kid. He was here for information.

“I wanted to get off Indol,” Mik said, looking vaguely sulky. Malos could tell he knew he was cornered; he doubted there was anyone else alive who would help the kid deal with his unique core crystal problem without trying to exploit him. Hell, Malos wasn’t above exploiting him a little if necessary. 

“You can get on a ship right now if you really want to,” he said. He imagined that’s what the kid had been planning to do, before soldiers swarmed the streets looking for him. “But somehow I don’t think that’s the best idea. So stick it out for two days and I can help you get away from here.”

“Two days? Ugh...fine.” Mikhail couldn’t have made it clearer that he didn't really want to do this if he tried, but clearly he knew that he didn't really have a choice. “If you let me get caught, I’m ratting you out to whoever you’re trying to hide from.” 

“That’s presuming you know who that is,” Malos said, taking another glance at the streets. The soldiers were pretty much gone. There was one at the corner, but as Malos watched, they turned around and walked back in the direction of the Sanctum. Looked like the coast was clear.

“I’m sure someone will get the information to the right person,” Mikhail shot back. “I’m not stupid. You’re obviously important. So I-”

“Yes, yes, whatever. Keep your mouth shut when we’re walking, kid. The soldiers are gone.” Mikhail struggled to stand on hearing his words, swaying on his feet slightly once he managed it. “Try and walk on your own.”

Mikhail made a choked noise but didn’t say anything, staring straight down at his feet as they started on the walk to the inn. Being back on the streets of Indol made Malos want to retch. It was so...despicable. He kept his head down and made sure Mik was doing the same. The last thing they needed right now was to get noticed after they’d spent so long cowering in an alleyway. The walk was only a few streets long, but Malos spent the whole time tense and ready to fight. 

Thankfully, the monks had decided that they’d rather go to bed than keep looking for the fugitive they probably assumed would die imminently, so they made it to the inn without incident. Pulling his hood up so no one could get a good view of his face, Malos indicated for Mikhail to stay behind him as he went and bought a room for the night. With any luck, he’d be able to meet his informant the following day and leave by the afternoon. With a kid in tow. Ugh, this was not how he’d hoped for this visit to Indol to go. But now, he really didn't see that he could just abandon the kid. So, they were stuck together.


End file.
